Editor's note:
I couldn't complete this article without letting our readers know just how great this truck is in the dirt. We headed out to El Mirage, California, for the photo shoot and had a blast. Pete was very familiar with this area, so he was able to open up the truck and really show off for us. After buckling up my harness and securing my helmet he took me on a ride I will never forget. This is the best leaf-sprung truck I have ridden in to date. In fact, I could argue it even soaked up whoops better than a few four-link trucks I have had the pleasure of riding in. Pete really knows how to tune a truck. Pete would like to thank his father Joe and brother Tony, as well as his friends, for helping him complete his truck. Without their help, this would have never been possible. For the machined parts he couldn't fabricate himself, Pete turned to Jorge Zapata of Zapco Engineering.
• Page 1
• Page 2
• Page 3
The 'cage work throughout this truck is all 4130 chrome-moly and was all completely fabricated by Pete. In fact, nearly everything that has been welded, cut, notched, sleeved, re-angled, or bent was all done by Pete over the course of a few years. We asked him about why he chose to make the 'cage bolt-on and he said, "The one thing that I hate doing is cutting something off the truck that I built if I end up changing my mind.
This also goes for parts of the truck that get in the way when I am working on the truck. To solve these problems, almost everything on the truck is bolted or clamped on for easy removal. The 'cage is a completely separate structure and is bolted to the frame. This, however, was done for two different reasons. First, cracks can occur in the areas where structural load-bearing tubes are welded to the framerails. This is due to initial differences in material properties and the state of the materials after they have been welded together.
-
The front suspension on Pete's truck has custom re-angled 4x4 I-beams being turned by 4.56
-
The transmission is an FM146 with a Borg-Warner 1350 transfer case below.
-
Looking over the naked front end of this Ranger, you can tell why it took years to complet
-
On this truck you'll find six Goodyear Wrangler MT/R 35x12.5R15 tires matched up with Amer
-
The entire fiberglass surrounding the truck was made by Hannemann Fiberglass. The front en
-
The powerplant under the hood is a 2.9L V-6 177-cid engine. Adding to the horsepower of th
-
The front shocks are Fox 2.5-inch coilovers and Fox 2x4-inch bumpstops pulling 16 inches o
-
A PIAA amber dust light was added to the back to keep anyone coming up behind him aware of
-
If you spend some time looking over this truck, you will come to learn that every piece of
-
With the spare tires removed, you can see the ATL 26-gallon fuel cell running with a Bosch
-
Deaver Spring produced a custom leaf pack for Pete per his recommendations, and let me tel
-
For shocks in the rear, he went with Fox 2.5x16-inch three-tube bypasses and Fox 2x4-inch